Sealing envelopes



United States PatentOfifice 2,819,010 Patented Jan. 7, 1958 SEALINGENVELOPES Jose Amiguet, Havana, Guba Application May 24, 1954, SerialNo. 432,001 4 Claims. (Cl. 229-62) My present invention relates toscalable envelopes of flexible: sheet material, such as paper, cloth,cellophane or the like. i

It has heretofore been very difiicult to provide strong and air-tightseals on envelopes or bags of the character referred to. Thus, whereasin the case of paper bags it is quite customary to provide gummed flapsthat may be folded over to join the two sides of the bag together, thismethod is not readily applicable to certain wrapping materials, such ascellophane, which will not stay folded unless placed in such conditionby heat and pressure with the aid of suitable apparatus. Althoughcellophane has considerable advantages over paper as a wrappingmaterial, including transparency and substantially completeairtightness, its use for this purpose has been limited heretofore, forthe reasons indicated, to articles wrapped at the factory or packingplant.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a method ofsealing an envelope of cellophane or, indeed, any flexible sheetmaterial in such manner that the contents thereof are safe fromspillage, contamination, contact with insects and so forth.

It is another object of my invention to provide a method of sealing anenvelope in the aforedescribed manner by a quick, simple and dependableoperation and without the need for special equipment.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide an envelopeof flexible sheet material, preferably cellophane, having means forquickly and efliciently sealing together a pair of lips or marginalportions thereof defining the mouth of the envelope.

In accordance with the invention, I provide a marginal envelope portionwith a non-hardening adhesive material and a protective strip offlexible material bonded to it by means of said adhesive material,removal of the protective strip enabling this marginal portion to beadhesively pressed against a similar marginal portion to close the mouthof the envelope. In a preferred embodiment, both lips of the envelopemouth are originally provided with adhesive and protective strips.

According to another feature of my invention, the protective strip orstrips are provided with bent-over ends engageable by the fingers of theuser to facilitate removal from the envelope mouth. Similarly, themarginal portions of the envelope may have extensions with or withoutadhesive to be grasped by the user while the protective strips are beingpulled from them.

The invention will be described in greater detail with reference to theaccompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevation (parts broken away) of an envelope embodying theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary section taken on the line II-II of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the envelope of Figs. 1 and 2 prior tosealing; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a modification.

In Figs. 1-3 there is shown an envelope according to the invention inthe form of a cellophane bag having front and rear portions 1, 2 joinedtogether at the bottom and the two sides to define a bag open at thetop. Two strips 3a, 3b are bonded to the upper edges of envelopeportions 1, 2, respectively, and extend upwardly beyond these portions,the exposed inner faces of these strips being covered with anon-hardening adhesive resin of the type used, for example, incommercial cellophane tape. One end of each strip 3a, 3b extendslaterally beyond the envelope portions 1, 2 to form a lug 7a, 7b,respectively, from which the adhesive 4 may be omitted as shown. Asecond, protective strip 5a, 5b, of a width equal to that of the exposedinner faces of strips 3a, 3b but of greater length than the latter,extends along each of these inner faces and is removably secured theretoby the adhesive 4; the ends of these protective strips 5a, 5b are bentover, as shown at 6a, 6b in Figs. 1 and 3, so as lie within the mouth ofthe bag where they may be easily gripped by the fingers of the user.

After the bag has been filled with goods of any description, the usermay quickly and easily seal it by grasping the lugs 7a, 7b with thefingers of one hand and the ends 6a, 6b with those of the other hand,then pulling these ends 6a, 6b away from the lugs 7a, 7b (i. e., to theleft in Figs. 1 and 3) so as to detach the protective strips 5a, 5b fromthe marginal strips 3a, 3b. This action will draw the inner,adhesive-bearing faces of strips 3a, 3b into contact with each other andjoin them together; if necessary, the fingers of one hand may be runwith slight pressure along the strips 3a, 3b to insure a perfect sealafter the protective strips 5a, 513 have been fully removed. When thebag is to be reopened, the top of portions 1, 2 may be ripped or cut offor the strips 3a, 317 may be pulled apart at the lugs 7a, 7b which arefree from adhesive.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modification in which the strips 3a, 3b areomitted and the adhesive 4 is applied directly to strip-like marginalareas along the upper inner edges of bag portions 1', 2. Lug-shapedextensions such as 7 are integral with portions 1', 2' and protectivestrips such as 5', having bent-over extremities 6, engage the marginalareas bearing the adhesive. The operation is the same as in thepreceding embodiment.

The invention is, of course, not limited to the specific embodimentsdescribed and illustrated. Thus, it will be apparent that only a singlebag portion, e. g. the rear portion 2 of Fig. 4, may be provided withadhesive 4 and a protective strip 5, removal of this one strip theneuabling the adhesive-bearing marginal area of that portion to engagethe corresponding marginal area of front portion 1'. With the preferredsymmetrical arrangement, however, the marginal areas or lips of the bagwill be drawn together virtually automatically as the two protectivestrips are pulled oil? in the manner disclosed. it will also be apparentthat whereas the elements of the bag closure itself, such as the strips3a, 3b and 5a, 5b, are advantageously made of cellophane or equivalentsmooth-surfaced material compatible with adhesive resins, the body ofthe envelope 1, 2 (or 1, 2) may, if desired, be made of paper, cloth, orother substances, instead of cellophane, depending on whether or notprotection of the contents from air and/ or moisture is required.

From the foregoing it will be seen that the invention lends itselfreadily to the wrapping of sandwiches, pies, seasonings and otheredibles for outings, beach parties and so on, and in particular also tothe packing of seeds, powdered chemicals and other comminuted substancesrequiring a spillproof seal. It should be understood, however, thatthese uses are enumerated merely by way of example; moreover,modifications and adaptations of the method and the arrangement hereindisclosed are f jpj, "9,819,010

a 3 possible'without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A scalable envelope comprising a front portion and a rear portionprovided with respective lip portions together defining a mouth, anon-hardening adhesive on the insides of said lip portions, and a pairof protective strips intermediate said lip portions each covering theadhesive on a respective one of said lip portions and removably securedthereto by said adhesive, said protective strips being provided withregistered unattached extremities folded over and lying next to eachother between the main portions of said protective strips, said lipportions being provided with lugs extending laterally beyond said frontand rear portions adjacent said folded-over extremities, saidextremities facing away from said lugs.

2. A sealable envelope according to claim 1, wherein said lugs are freefrom adhesive.

3. A scalable envelope comprising a front portion and a rear portionprovided with respective lip portions to gether defining a mouth, a pairof marginal strips externally secured to said lip portions,respectively, and projecting beyond the latter all around said mouth, a

r 4 non-hardening adhesive on the inner faces of the projecting parts ofsaid marginal strips, and a pair of protective strips intermediate saidmarginal strips each covering the adhesive on a respective one of saidinner faces and removably secured thereto by said adhesive, saidmarginal strips being provided with lugs extending laterally beyond saidlip portions, said protective strips being provided with folded-overextremities adjacent said lugs, said extremities facing away from saidlugs and lying unattached alongside each other between the main portionsof said protective strips. it

4. A scalable envelope according to claim 3, wherein said lugs are freefrom adhesive.

References (iited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,492,960 Chambers May 6, 1924 2,404,337 Williams July 16, 1946"2,409,100 5 Brady Oct. 8, 1946 2,483,604 Abramson Oct. 4, 19492,643,049 Bartelt June 23, 1953

